Bet on the NBAHave you ever wondered why the NBA team from Los Angeles is named the Lakers ? Aren't they closer to an ocean?

The answer is, the Lakers of Los Angeles had their beginnings in Minnesota, " Land of 10,000 Lakes ". They moved to L.A. after the 1959 season.

O.K., how about some current history. It has been five years since the Timberwolves have beat the Lakers. However, with Los Angeles traveling to The Target Center in Minneapolis tonight, very recent history may be in the Timberwolves' favor. Game time is 8:00 Eastern.

After an impressive victory over Miami at home last Sunday, the Lakers took to the road, where they promptly dropped games to Detroit in overtime and then of all teams, Washington, after leading by as many as 21 points. Kobe Bryant went uncharacteristically cold in the fourth quarter of the latter game missing 9 of 10 from the field.

The Lakers enter this contest with the record of 23 wins, 16 losses and trailing their cross town rival Clippers by just .005 percentage points for fourth place in the conference. While they are 17-2 at home, their road record stands at a lowly 6-14.

On the other side of the court, the Timberwolves are looking to extend their home winning streak to six games, their longest home streak in five years. Minnesota features the all star winner of the three point contest and Charles Barkely's favorite forward, Kevin Love. Love scored 29 points with 16 boards in a 106-94 spanking of the Traiblazers Tuesday night. He is averaging 36.7 with 14.3 rebounds this year. The Timberwolves are hoping to get a boost from center Nikola Pekovic if he is able to return after missing two games with soreness in his right foot.

Overall, Minnesota has a won-lost record of 21-19, which has them tied with Houston for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot entering tonights game. They are 12-10 at home. Somewhat surprisingly, even with their recent performances, the Lakers are a mere one point favorite if you're willing to lay $110 to win $100. That same $110 is required for the over/under set at 192.5. Check out all our NBA odds here.